Natural Resources Development Project

Vivekananda Kendra - Nardep received the "Environmental Award" for its work at Rameswaram in the year 2015 - 16 on 5th June – ‘World Environment Day’.

Vivekananda Kendra - Nardep received the "Environmental Award" for its work at Rameswaram in the year 2015 - 16 on 5th June – ‘World Environment Day’. Environment Minister K.C.Karupanan, Govt. of Tamilnadu handed over the award to Sis.Saraswathi on behalf of Vivekananda Kendra - Nardep at the glittering function held at Chennai.

Albert Schweitzer, a Nobel Laureate was a French-German theologian, organist, philosopher, and physician. He coined the phrase “Reverence for Life”. These words came to Albert Schweitzer on a boat trip on the Ogooué River in French Equatorial Africa (now Gabon), while searching for a universal concept of ethics for our time.

Sadhguru Jaggi Vasudev reminded the people on the occasion of Earth Day which was on 22nd April - “We are not different from the earth. So, if the planet is in danger, we are in danger. If the planet is healthy, we will be healthy. If humanity has to live for a long time, you have to think and act like the earth and be the earth because that is what you are. Our lives are not separate from each other; our life is an integrated, connected life”.  This he calls as inclusive consciousness.

22nd April is celebrated as a “World Earth Day”. James Lovelock a famous scientist from England, environmentalist and futurist – all rolled in one proposed for the first time the Gaia hypothesis, which postulates that the Earth functions as a self regulating system. The Gaia hypothesis proposes that living and non-living parts of the earth form a complex interacting system that can be thought of as a single organism, named after the Greek God as Gaia. In this month, we are giving a few of his quotable quotes.

Legend has it that a Pandya king issued an order asking each family to send one person to work on strengthening the banks of Vaigai river. Lord Shiva appeared in the form of a youth and offered to do the work on behalf of an elderly woman. But he dozed off on the banks of the river. On noticing this, the King got angry and struck him with a cane. The blow fell on everyone else, including the King.

Fritjof Capra is a real pathfinder. An  Austrian-born American physicist has written several popular books, including The Tao of Physics (1975), The Turning Point (1982), Uncommon Wisdom (1988), The Web of Life (1996), The Hidden Connections (2002) and The Systems View of Life (2014). Capra advocates Paradigm Shift from reductionistic Cartesian view to holistic approach. In this issue we have given a few of his quotable quotes.

Wolfgang Sachs is an author and research director at the Wuppertal Institute for Climate, Environment and Energy, in Germany. He has been a member of the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change and is a member of the Club of Rome. He has edited immensely influential book “The Development Dictionary”. In this issue, we have given a few of his quotable quotes.

The Nari Shakti Puraskar, instituted in 1999 is a way for us to recognize women who have exceeded expectations to challenge the status quo and make a lasting contribution to women’s empowerment. The Government of India confers these awards on individuals and institutions in recognition of their service to the cause of women. The outstanding contributions in the field of women development & upliftment by way of being role models are of primary consideration in identifying the recipients of Puraskar.

Shri.Satish Kumar famous editor of Resurgence and Ecologist writes “Wholeness and harmony are the foundation stones of a new world view”. My existence is a network of influences. I exist in a web of relationships: in reciprocity, mutuality and community. I am because earth, air, fire and water are. I am because my parents, my teachers and my friends are. I am because Buddha, Krishna and Christ are: they are part of my thinking. Shakespeare is, therefore I am. Beethoven is, therefore I am. Van Gogh is, therefore I am. Gandhi is, therefore I am. You are therefore I am.